When Rose Hyer was diagnosed with breast cancer so advanced that doctors gave her only a month to live, the single mom decided to finally start living. The spunky hairdresser, then 39, was tired of “being a passenger” in life. She moved to Florida, took up body building and bought her own motorcycle – a metallic blue Suzuki Intruder 800.

Hyer is one of thousands of women across the country finding camaraderie in » Read more: Biker Girls are Increasingly Taking to the Open Roads